Terrorism: An enterprise, a film, a myth or reality?

Do you think terrorism and militancy across the globe have emerged as big business for both "donor and recipient?" A lot of donors and recipients are available now in the international terrorism market and many traditional investors are doing business in this area of investment. Who is making profit from this explosive business and who are the losers and victims? My answer is, as usual, the "First World" is making profit by investing in the terrorism industry and the "Third World" is the loser and victim. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Libya - to name a few - are the locations for real-life blockbuster films with high-budget casts and SFX departments perpetuating a multi-billion-dollar industry that will likely last until the end of the 21st century. In this terrorism film, there is some confusion and it can be difficult to decipher exactly who is the hero and who is the villain, not to mention who owns the copyrights, who will distribute it and when it will be released.

Syria is the most recent location for this film and the terrorism business nexus has found Syria to be a happy hunting ground for the big wigs like the U.S., Russia, Britain and France. These countries are using their best weapons and strategies in Syria to outclass other competitors just to get either their "throne or booty." The political leaderships of all these countries played a major role in destabilizing Syria politically over the last 10 years and these countries have installed and financed a number of terrorist actors and factories in the form of Syrian militant rebel groups. Now these big wigs are all emphasizing peace in Syria. Don't you think this a funny and ridiculous use of logic as well as a bizarre way to operate? My answer is that this logic and its vicious plan have consistently proved to be profitable in the long run for the U.S., Britain, Russia and France, but Third World countries are the losers and victims in this terrorism drama. It is the time tested policy of the U.S. and the big European powers that first they create a problem in the Third World and then they come up with a solution and in this process, their dominance is maintained over the Third World.

Analysts of the Third World are always busy either supporting or condemning religious militancy while wasting time analyzing the barbarism and viciousness of al-Qaida, DAESH, Boko-Haram, the Taliban, the Houthis and dozens of other groups, but from my point of view these groups are just "recipients," "puppet-like film characters" and "cast and crew" and the most relevant thing is that there is a dire need to expose the big global power game, capital and dominance of their international donors, producers and directors.

Terrorism is a pure business now and nothing else. This is the best working definition of the word "terrorism," and no doubt shares in the terrorism industry will be ready on sale on Wall Street soon.

* Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Govt. College University, Pakistan